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| Transportation Research Board buys into Climate Change |
| 2012-07-26 |
| Published in Scientific American, which I stopped reading when I noticed every single article bashed Bush. The slide continues. From polluting exhaust spewed from tailpipes to caved-in roadways due to extreme weather, transportation and climate change have an intimate and insidious relationship, the Transportation Research Board (TRB) has outlined in a new paper. "It's particularly timely now because we're seeing so many weather phenomena, from heat records to wildfires and severe droughts," said Cynthia Burbank, vice president of the global infrastructure consulting firm Parsons Brinckerhoff and an author of the document. Why yes, the local weatherman says this is the hotest summer ever. Well, at least since the 1930's. Based on studies by TRB and the National Academy of Sciences, the paper released last week is designed to be a succinct resource for professionals in the field on how transportation contributes to and is affected by climate change. Or weather extremes. Transportation is the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, at nearly 30 percent of the total output. It's also an area ripe for improvement. Expecially in Asia, where two-cycle motorbikes are everywhere, really dirty, and not too hard to convert to cvleaner four-cyle engines. Later this summer, the Obama administration is on track to finalize a 54.5 mpg fleetwide fuel economy standard for 2025. That policy and support for research on alternative fuels will make substantial inroads in reducing transportation emissions, said Burbank. Excellent! Now can we move on to solve the poverty problem? But with little to no movement on climate change legislation in Congress, the responsibility to tackle transportation's contribution has fallen on state and local leaders. And action depends largely on whether the public and elected officials understand climate change and think it's a high-priority issue, said Burbank. Most states don't have enough in their coffers to care about spending more on climate change. In recent years, U.S. transportation infrastructure has taken a beating from extreme weather. Record-level flooding in 2010 and last year washed out roadways in Tennessee, Rhode Island, Iowa and Wisconsin, for instance. And in Vermont, Tropical Storm Irene turned sections of Route 107 into gaping holes. Intense weather also disrupts and delays mass transit and freight networks, leaving its mark in economic loss. But that damage only started when the Hocky Stick Effect came into play! Floods, rain and high winds aren't the only concerns. Just outside Washington, D.C., three Metro cars derailed earlier this month near the West Hyattsville station when air temperatures spiked above 95 degrees Fahrenheit, causing a "heat kink" in which the tracks got so hot they buckled. This is not an uncommon occurence with continuous welded rail and is related to temperature and poor maintenance practices, not climate change. But how would the Transportation Research Board know anything about welded rail? Maybe the rail guys didn't peer-review the paper? While nearly all state and local transportation departments are addressing infrastructure adaptation in some way, certain states, such as Washington, Oregon, California and Massachusetts, are also taking on climate mitigation. I guess they got plenty of money. Reducing the number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is the most effective way to lower emissions, and transportation pricing is the best way to reduce VMT, said Burbank. Just raise the price of gas! Add some more tax! The poor people can go on welfare or walk. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #9 Actually the condition of highways, transit rolling stock and transit fixed rail is better as of the most recent compilations than they were 10 years ago and 10 years ago they were better than 20 years ago. What is worse is traffic congestion and transit on time performance. In the former the problem is that capacity isn't being added fast enough, in the latter, the problem is difficult to pin down but a lot of people think it is do to problematic management of transit operators. |
| Posted by: lord garth 2012-07-26 19:27 |
| #8 In regards to transportation infrastructure the “adaptation” model sounds reasonable. It’s the “mitigation” model that’s a complete waste of time and money – and a major pain in the ass. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2012-07-26 19:18 |
| #7 The American Society of Civil Engineers has picked up a similar NYT story and linked it on their daily "SmartBrief" - Top Story - U.S. infrastructure shows strain from extreme weather The steel and concrete that comprise roads, highways and rail tracks across the country are showing signs of strain due to extreme heat, as is the power grid. This has highlighted the need to change how infrastructure systems are built to be able to withstand the intense changes in weather patterns. "WeÂ’re living in an era of assessment, not yet in an area of adaptation," said David Behar, climate program director for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (7/25) Intense changes, eh? Hyperbole, perhaps? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2012-07-26 16:31 |
| #6 Yeah, after I read a ScAm article on medical trauma response (and how quick response saves lives) that trailed off into a rant about gun control, I dumped the subscription. That kinda crap I can get for free. |
| Posted by: mojo 2012-07-26 16:12 |
| #5 Cut off retail sales of petroleum, turn off the lights, go back to drinking muddy water & sleeping in hollow logs, the ultimate goal of the climate changeists. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2012-07-26 11:58 |
| #4 The sky is falling! |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2012-07-26 11:41 |
| #3 ScAm became OpEd years ago, perhaps decades. Wait..weren't the democrats hoping for North Carolina to get demolished by a hurricane so to create jobs? Good thing there are not heat records or drought so we can turn farmland into biodoggles. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2012-07-26 10:15 |
| #2 "They may be in states where the But here at the TRB, we know best. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-07-26 09:38 |
| #1 Some years ago a lot of people in the TRB community were hoping to use carbon trading to extract $$$ from taxpayers to fund more infrastructure. that failed the next step was to claim that climate change will create problems that need to be fixed by more taxpayer $$$ that failed the response was this ridiculous cry for attention |
| Posted by: lord garth 2012-07-26 07:59 |